Market redevelopment: Delhi traders flag concerns about lack of parking, shortage of toilets for women

New Delhi: Shortage of toilets for women, lack of parking space and overhead hanging wires were some of the problems cited by traders who have filled forms circulated by the Delhi government ahead of the redevelopment of five markets here. The government has extended the last date for traders for filling up a questionnaire that seeks their views on the problems and details about various businesses at the five markets. The deadline for the submission of the form was 17 July but has been extended to 31 July, official said. According to officials, the deadline has been extended since many of the traders said they are not very well-versed with filling up online forms and were finding it difficult. The market associations are now training traders to fill up the online forms, officials said. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had announced last month that it will redevelop the Kamla Nagar, Khari Baoli, Lajpat Nagar, Sarojini Nagar and Kirti Nagar markets to make them “world class”. The move was in accordance with the announcement in the city government’s Rozgar Budget 2022-23 to create more job avenues with an investment of Rs 100 crore in the redevelopment project. On 30 June, a meeting of the project’s expert committee and business leaders from the five markets was held at Civil Lines here and it was decided that an online form will be circulated among the shopkeepers to get their feedback on the project. Brijesh Goyal, a member of the expert committee and chairman of the Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) said there has been a good response to the feedback forms and around 500 responses have been received so far. He said traders have flagged concerns like lack of parking space, shortage of washrooms for women and the hazard of hanging wires in their markets. The problem of hanging wires has been flagged by traders of Khari Baoli as well, he said. Questions on the age group of the customers and the conversion rate of deals are part of the questionnaire that was circulated. The form also has questions on the nature of their businesses, the area of the shops, the conversion rate of deals and the age group of the customers. The questionnaire also seeks to know the break up of male and female customers as well as employees, the daily footfall at the stores and the traders’ views on the problems plaguing the market. While announcing the names of the five markets for the redevelopment project, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had listed out a unique selling point (USP) of each spot. “Kamla Nagar, for instance, is a youth hangout zone, Khari Baoli is known for the best spices, Lajpat Nagar is a one-stop destination for wedding shopping, Sarojini Nagar is known for its street fashion while Kirti Nagar is a popular furniture and household decor market,” the chief minister had said. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.